As the Toronto Maple Leafs have slowly but surely gotten themselves back into the playoff picture, things are starting to look up for Toronto heading into the stretch run. Rather than thinking about dismantling the team and retooling for the next season, the core has appeared to have found some chemistry in their recent strong play of late.
In doing so, the Maple Leafs will be looking to add prior to the trade deadline to bolster the team’s chances of winning going forward. What better way to do so than to get Leafs GM Brad Treliving to call up his old team in the Calgary Flames for some potential key players that could be difference makers for the club. As a result, we will take a look at 3 trade targets out of Calgary that Treliving should pursue to help upgrade the Leafs roster.
D Rasmus Andersson
For someone that had been immersed in trade rumors for quite some time now, defenseman Rasmus Andersson still finds himself a part of the Flames organization, for now. Nevertheless, the Maple Leafs could seriously use a top-pairing defender of his calibre to inject into their lineup for the playoffs. With Chris Tanev likely gone for at least the remainder of the regular season, the Leafs need an ideal right-handed shot replacement that could hop into their top four seamlessly, and Andersson would certainly fit the bill.
As a consistent offensive producer, the 29-year-old defenseman has put up double digits in goal in three of the past four seasons, with already 10 on the year through 47 games in 2025-26. In comparison, the Maple Leafs haven’t had a defender that had put up 10 or more goals in a season since Morgan Rielly accomplished the feat with 10 back during his 2021-22 campaign. In addition, Andersson can play top-pairing minutes as one of the premium shot blockers in the game as well. As a result, he would provide an element that the current Leafs don’t have, which is being an elite contributor both offensively and defensively at the same time.
F Blake Coleman
Blake Coleman is exactly the type of player that you want on your team when the going gets tough during the playoffs. Known for his gritty, hard-nosed play and persistent forechecking, Coleman would help make the Maple Leafs a harder team to play against. In addition, as a two-time Stanley Cup champion previously with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 34-year-old veteran has proven to be a winner in getting it done at the biggest stage.
Coleman is also just two years removed from his career season in 2023-24 with Calgary in which he recorded 30 goals and 24 assists for 54 points in 78 games played. This year with the struggling Flames, he has added 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 44 total games. Although recent reports suggest that Calgary would rather hold on to Coleman in their potential retool or rebuild, if Treliving and the Leafs can offer up something that the Flames wouldn’t turn away from, it might just be enough to make Calgary move on from the gritty forward.
F Nazem Kadri
Finally, we have heard about it many times during the past couple of seasons. But it may be the right time now to bring home Nazem Kadri for another go-around with the Maple Leafs. After proving that he could actually be effective during the playoffs in helping led the Colorado Avalanche to their Stanley Cup win in 2022, Kadri has been a mainstay with the Flames during the past four seasons. It just so happened that it was Treliving himself that signed the former Leaf forward to his current seven-year, $49 million contract. Despite putting up respectable offensive numbers during the past three seasons for Calgary, Kadri hasn’t returned to the postseason ever since as the Flames had failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs each time.
Although this season, Kadri has taken a little step back, registering just eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points in 47 games with the Flames. Nevertheless, he could provide the Leafs with much-needed secondary scoring, leadership and solid depth at centre behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares. In doing so, it could even push the ever-so-effective Nicolas Roy to the fourth line, making Toronto one of the deepest four-line teams in the league. Most importantly, it would give Kadri another shot at helping the Leafs in a playoff run and hopefully this time around, he can get it done for the Buds.